WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
The Wizard
Personal information
Name: William I. Zard (sometimes erroneously reported as William Azmodeus Zard)
Residence: Usually Mobile
Occupation: Professional Criminal
First Appearance (Golden Age): All-Star Comics #34 (April 1947)
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): Justice League of America #21 (August 1963)
Character History
William I. Zard (possibly not
his real name) was probably born in the early 1910's. Zard grew up hard
and became a petty criminal at an early age. He worked as a gun man for
several organized crime figures, an occupation that often landed him in
jail. By the late 1930's, Zard felt a failure, unable to master even mediocre
crimes. Alone in jail one evening, Zard had a flash of revelation. He became
convinced that crime was like a business and success would be achieved
by conducting that business is the truest sense of the word. Organization, planning, and
getting the advantage over the competition was key.
After being paroled, Zard
left the States and moved to Tibet, where he passed himself off as a supplicant
to the mystic arts. Under a Master Lama, Zard learned a variety of magicks,
including a mastery of illusions. Upon the completion of his studies, Zard
planned to return to the States to renew his life of crime. His first act
was to slay his faithful teacher, the Master Lama. Arriving in the States
in the mid-1940s, Zard's master plan was to craft a nom du crime, the Wizard,
and pull off the crime of his life: joining the Justice Society. So hardened
a criminal was Zard that he could not fathom that the JSA actually worked
for justice and assumed that they were simply an elite band of criminals staging a ruse for the authorities. He staged a series of crimes to
demonstrate his worthiness but after all of his schemes had been thwarted,
Zard was aghast to learn that his opponents really did work toward a society
without crime. Cornered by the heroes, the Wizard leaped into a vat of
acid, apparently to his death (All-Star Comics #34).
However, one of the
illusions that the Wizard learned best was to fake his own demise. Dumbstruck
by his experience with the JSA, the Wizard reasoned that it was best to
fight fire with fire. He helped organize a group of the JSA's adversaries
including Degaton, Vandal Savage, the Gambler, The Thinker and the Brain
Wave into a force called the Injustice Society. Together the group managed
to take over key portions of the United States Government until they were
fouled by the Justice Society. To add insult to injury, the Wizards escape
was tripped up by a youth group, the Junior JSA, and he was unceremoniously
carted off to jail (All-Star Comics #37).
No prison has held the Wizard
for long and upon his escape, he determined that the Injustice Society
must live again. This time he took a different tact and used career criminals
with few dreams of empire. He recruited the Icicle, the Fiddler, the Sportsmaster,
the Huntress, and the Harlequin. Together the new team managed to capture
most of the Justice Society but the Wizards plans were undone by the tactical
error of including the Harlequin. Not a true criminal, the Harlequin
betrayed the Injustice Society to aide her in winning the love of Green
Lantern and the JSA quickly rounded up the criminals and returned them
to prison (All-Star Comics #41).
In the late 1940's, the Wizard
was contacted by Colonel Future, a Superman foe bedeviled by the Man of
Steel's increased presence at home since the war ended. Deciding to try
magic where science failed, the Wizard and Colonel Future determined to
cast a spell that simply eradicated the Man of Steel from existence. As
the Wizard cast the spell, it did not have quite the effect he had intended.
Instead of erasing his existence, it simply caused reporter Clark Kent
to forget that he was Superman. For a year, however, it did seem that Superman
had ceased to exist. To Future's dismay, the battle against him was picked
up by aggressive journalist Clark Kent, leading police raids and using
his position in the journalism industry to attack crime in ways he never
had before. By this point, the Wizard and Colonel Future had had a falling
out and the Wizard was reduced to destitution. Kent married fellow reporter
Lois Lane and on their honeymoon, the new Mrs. Kent made the shocking discovery
that her husband was invulnerable, confirming her suspicions that she was
indeed married to Superman. Lois Kent sought out the Wizard, a vagrant
in a Metropolis city park. She convinced him that he could restore his
name to prominence if he proved that it was he that had banished the Man
of Steel. The only way he could do that, was to bring Superman back. In
a public ceremony arranged by the Daily Star, the Wizard methodically undid
his incantations from a year before and from an Superman insignia on the
ground the Man of Steel burst forth, collaring the wily Wizard. The Earth's
foremost super-hero was restored to land of the living and the Wizard was
restored to jail (Action #484).
The Wizard's activities during
the 1950's are largely a mystery. It is likely that he either spent them
in jail or traveled widely to hone his particular brand of magic. When
the JSA re-formed in the early 1960's, the Wizard renewed his life of crime
in earnest. For most of the following 20 years, the Wizard rarely worked
alone. In 1963, he joined fellow Injustice Society members The Fiddler
and the Icicle in a group known as the Crime Champions which also featured
villains from Earth-One. The group bedeviled the Justice League of America
and Justice Society of America on two worlds before finally being captured
(Justice League of America #21).
The Wizard's next recorded
encounter with the JSA occurred in the early 1970's, when he joined several
members of the Injustice Society in an escapade of crime lead by a writer
from Earth-Prime (Justice League of America #123-124). Shortly thereafter,
the Injustice Society, including the Wizard, assaulted the Justice Society
Headquarters, severely injuring Hourman and staging a crime wave that spanned
the globe. All members of the Injustice Society were apprehended in due
course (All-Star Comics #63-66).
The most recent defeat led
to a crisis in confidence for the Injustice Society. The villains became
convinced that they, due to age and psychology, had become so accustomed
to losing to the JSA that it was all they knew. To revitalize their efforts
required fresh blood, young villains with whom the Justice Society was
unfamiliar to give them the edge they needed. It as decided that a member
of the Society, namely the Wizard, would go to Earth-1 and recruit new
allies in the war for crime. With the aide of the Fiddler, the Wizard was
vibrated out of the Earth-2 dimension and into that of Earth-One1. (Secret
Society of Super-Villains #12).
The trip to Earth-One had an
unexpected side effect: the Wizard's power were reduced. By circumstances
never revealed, the Wizard fell in with a new group of super-villains,
the Secret Society of Super-Villains, organized by Darkseid. These
foes were to serve as a initial troops for Darkseid when he chose to assault
Earth but let by a clone of Paul Kirk, the Manhunter, the villains turned
on Darkseid and established themselves as an independent group (Secret
Society of Super-Villains #1-5). Seeing an opportunity, the Wizard
manufactured a "mysterious benefactor" who contacted noted con artist "Funky"
Flashman and endowed him with what appeared to be large sums of money.
The Secret Society then established themselves in a new base in San Francisco
and sought new recruits (Secret Society of Super-Villains #6-7).
The task the "mysterious benefactor" laid out for
the Secret Society was to acquire several artifacts known as The Sorcerer's
Treasures first encountered by Superman and Batman (World's Finest
#103). These artifacts, including a power glove, mystic gem and cloak of
invisibility, would then be used to allow the benefactor to reveal himself.
After tracking down the three treasures (and losing the fourth, a Dragon
Box), the Secret Society turned the treasures over to Flashman, who left
them in a airport locker for the benefactor. Unbeknownst to the Secret
Society, the Creeper had trailed Funky and waited patiently to nab the
Society's secret leader. The Creeper was astonished when the man picking
up the artifacts was none other than the Wizard (Secret Society of Super-Villains
#8-10).
The Wizard was booked and
jailed but soon escaped. Reacquiring the artifacts through theft, he barged
into Secret Society headquarters and disposed of Flashman by teleporting
him to the East Coast. He then announced his intentions to take leadership
of the Secret Society and lead them back to Earth-2 to defeat the Justice
Society of America once and for all. After an erroneous excursion to Earth-3,
the villains arrived on Earth-2 and set the Wizard's plan into motion.
This plan was to systematically attack and eliminate the weaker members
of the JSA, then liberate his colleagues and attack the powerful members
en masse as they lacked reinforcement. The plan met with some initial success
as the Secret Society captured the Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific
(Secret Society of Super-Villains #11-15, Canceled Comics Cavalcade
#2).
The disappearance of their colleagues however soon alerted the JSA to the
plan and the Secret Society was forced to flee to Limbo to avoid capture
(revealed in Justice League of America #166).
The villains time in Limbo was brief but not without consequences. When they emerged on Earth-1 some months later, they found the link between their bodies and the souls had weakened. To strengthen themselves, they needed new bodies and selected the Justice League members as ideal targets. Attracting the attention of the JLA to a archeological dig in Egypt, the Secret Society ambushed the heroes and switched bodies with them. The Wizard happily took the body of Superman, giving the mage power he had never known. As the villains plotted to use their new bodies to dispose of the remaining Justice Leaguers, the heroes deduced their plans and captured their possessed comrades. The Wizard and the rest of the Secret Society were returned to their own bodied and sentenced to lengthy prison terms (Justice League of America #166-168). The Wizard eventually escaped prison and took up crime again with his old colleagues in the Crime Champions but were again defeat by the combined might of the Justice League and Justice Society (Justice League of America #219-220). The fate of William Zard of Earth-2 after Crisis is unrevealed.
Powers and Abilities
The Wizard's abilities are vast and at times variable. From
his training, he has learned to tap into a variety of mystic forces with varying
degrees of efficacy. Effects of these have included teleportation,
projects of force or energy and a variety of potent illusions. When he
wielded the Sorcerer's Treasures, his native training was augmented to include
augmented invisibility, super-strength and reversal of force projected against
him. The limits of his abilities seems to have varied with time and
location (i.e. Earth-One vs. Earth-Twp) but such limits are not well-defined.
His appearance has been fairly consistent over time and the affects of his
abilities on his rate of aging are unclear. The Wizard is also a highly effective leader and organizer, playing key roles in organizing every iteration of the Injustice Society, the Crime Champions and the original Secret Society of Super-Villains.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Physically, the Wizard has appeared to be generally mortal, tho this has not be definitively proven. He can be overwhelmed with superior force, physical or magical and his ability to wield his powers is limited by his own mental focus. Distraction tactics can limit his combat proficiency. When he moved to Earth-1 to join the Secret Society, he appeared cut off from the power sources he relied on on Earth-Two and his ability to wield magic became sporadic. While he sees himself as a leader and organizer, his tendency toward arrogance undermines his efforts as often as not. Finally, a large part of his powers appears to be his clarity and confidence in marshaling them and when these are undermined, so goes his magic.
Multiversity
Prior Earth-0
In the timeline the most since Crisis, The
Wizard formed a new group
in the mid-1980's to battle the Justice Society's heirs known as Infinity
Inc. Unable to resist an opportunity, the Wizard moved to Canada and organized some former colleagues
(Fiddler and the Shade) and some new ones (Icicle II, Artemis and Hazard)
into Injustice Unlimited as a villainous counterpoint. After a globe-trotting
ruckus between the criminals and the combined might of Infinity Inc. and
the Global Guardians, the Wizard seemingly stood triumphant. Fearing that
he might actually kill one of the heroes, the second generation Hourman
grabbed a giant hand from a clock tower and seemingly impaled the Wizard, killing him instantly (Infinity Inc.
#34-36).
However, as before, the Wizard has learned to fake his death. Using some newer magics he attempts to again transport himself to Limbo but instead ended up in the land of Faeries, a magical realm inhabited by characters from Fairy Tales. There, he learned newer magics still and also regained a portion of his youth. Fortified from this experience, he again launched an attack on Earth but was thwarted by Infinity Inc. (Infinity Inc. #50) much as their forebears had thwarted a similar invasion years before (All-Star Comics #38). He recently emerged with a new appearance as part of group of magically inclined super-villains. This group seeks to gather mystic artifacts for an unknown purpose yet to be revealed (DCU Villains Secret Files #1). The Wizard also formed yet another incarnation of the Injustice Society in recent years (JSA Classified #5-7, JSA All-Stars #2-5)and teamed-up with Amos Fortune and The Gambler (JSA Classified #14-16).
Appearances
|
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
|
First Appearance, vs. The Justice Society |
All-Star Comics Archives #8 |
|
|
Form/Joins the Injustice Society |
All-Star Comics Archives #8,Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told, DC 100-Page Spectacular #DC-17, Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years |
|
|
All-Star Comics #41 |
joins the Injustice Society, vs. the JSA |
Justice League of America #113, Justice League of America Super-Spectacular #1 (1999), All-Star Archives #9 |
|
Action Comics #484 |
Allied with Colonel Future |
Superman in the Seventies TPB, DC Retroactive - Superman: The 70's, Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman (Deluxe Edition) |
|
vs. the Crime Champions, vs. the JLA and JSA |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1 TPB, DC 100-Page Spectacular #6, Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told, Justice League of America Archives #3, Showcase Presents: The Justice League of America #2, Justice League of America: The Silver Age Omnibus #1, Justice Society, A Celebration of 75 years |
|
|
Joins the Injustice Society, vs. the JLA and JSA |
DC Retroactive: Justice League of America - The '70s #1 (JLA #123 only), Showcase Presents: The Justice League of America #6, Justice League of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus #2, Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. #4 |
|
|
With the Injustice Society, vs. the JSA |
Justice Society TPB Vol. 1, Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1, All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever |
|
|
Secret Society of Super-Villains #1-11 |
Moves to Earth-1, Joins the Secret Society of Super-Villains under Darkseid and Funky Flashman |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC Vol. 1, Secret Society of Super-Villains TPB Vol. 1 |
|
Super-Team Family #13 |
vs. Captain Comet |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC Vol. 2, The Wedding of the Atom and Jean Loring HC, Countdown Special: The Atom #2 |
|
Secret Society of Super-Villains #12-15 |
Assumes leadership of Secret Society and attacks Earth-2. |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC Vol. 2 |
|
Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2 |
vs. The Justice Society, ultimately retreats |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC Vol. 2 |
|
Returns to Earth-1, vs. the JLA |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC Vol. 2 |
|
|
Behind the scenes, revealed to have laid a trap for Jay Garrick in interdimensional space |
||
|
Witness against the JSA |
America vs. The Justice Society TPB |
|